AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) Stock Price Down 0.9%

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s share price fell 0.9% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $166.74 and last traded at $168.08. 709,865 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 5,552,454 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.54.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays lifted their target price on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.43.

AbbVie Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02. The firm has a market cap of $297.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.58. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $175.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $160.57.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $14.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 162.28% and a net margin of 8.95%. AbbVie’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.60 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.69%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 227.11%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total transaction of $24,572,458.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 519,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $92,020,679.73. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total transaction of $9,184,047.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total transaction of $24,572,458.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 519,099 shares in the company, valued at $92,020,679.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Waypoint Wealth Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie during the first quarter worth $244,000. Smith Anglin Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 7.7% in the first quarter. Smith Anglin Financial LLC now owns 3,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $643,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 8,681.9% in the first quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 120,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,807,000 after purchasing an additional 119,550 shares during the last quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC grew its stake in AbbVie by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC now owns 13,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,441,000 after purchasing an additional 714 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in AbbVie by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 30,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,477,000 after purchasing an additional 1,326 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Company Profile

AbbVie Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells pharmaceuticals worldwide. The company offers Humira, an injection for autoimmune and intestinal Behçet's diseases, and pyoderma gangrenosum; Skyrizi to treat moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, psoriatic disease, and Crohn's disease; Rinvoq to treat rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, atopic dermatitis, axial spondyloarthropathy, ulcerative colitis, and Crohn's disease; Imbruvica for the treatment of adult patients with blood cancers; Epkinly to treat lymphoma; Elahere to treat cancer; and Venclexta/Venclyxto to treat blood cancers.